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WPHY-FM
WPHY-FM is a Philadelphia radio station with an all-sports format. Located @ 97.5 FM, the station adopted it's current all-sports format in 1989, the 3rd all-sports radio station in the US (after WSFS in 1988 & WNY several months later). It's transmitters are located in Downtown Philadelphia. The station is known for it's influence on the Philadelphia sports fanbase. It's a sister station to 660 WNY (New York City). WPHY-FM is the flagship radio station for the Philadelphia Flyers, the Philadelphia 76ers, the Philadelphia Eagles & the Philadelphia Phillies. When 1 or 2 teams are playing @ the same time, WPHY 1060 will usually carry 1 of the games History The station 1st went on the air on June 1st, 1934 as Philadelphia's 1st commercial & 1st FM radio station with the call sign WPHY-FM. In the 1940's & the 50's, the station was an affiliate of the Mutual Broadcasting System. From the 1950's until the early 1960's, the station had a rock & roll format. In the early 60s, WPHY-FM adopted a MOR format (after an unsuccessful attempt @ a Top 40 format branded as Color Radio). With this format, the station played pop hits of the 1960's, along with some 50's pop mixed in. During this time, WPHY-FM called themselves "The BIG Philly". WPHY-FM was #1 in the market ratings through the 60's & for most of the 70's. In the late 60's, they began including more soft-rock until the format gradually evolved into an Adult Contemporary format which survived through the 70's & into the 80's. The music mix continued to include pop from the previous 2 decades. In addition, the station was full service in approach, as they had a heavy emphasis on news as well 1970's & 1980's By the early 1970's, WPHY-FM evolved to an adult contemporary format & for a while, they were heavy on 1950's & 1960's rock & roll oldies. At the height of it's popularity as a full service/adult contemporary station in the early to mid-1970's, WPHY-FM was the home to some of the most well-known air personalities in the city. WPHY-FM’s presentation, like other full-service stations, was heavily dependent on it's personalities to entertain the audience as much as the music itself. In addition to music, full-service music stations in that era were typically home to strong news operations & WPHY-FM had local newscasts every hour, 7 days a week (@ 1 point they offered half-hour newscasts around the clock). The weekday morning news was so extensive that they had 2 anchors in later years & even introduced a 5:00 AM 30-minute newscast. The station hosted a popular radiothon for 1 weekend a year for several years, raising funds to fight leukemia. The events were staged on a large scale, in venues like hotel ballrooms, with local & national celebrities visiting the LIVE broadcast Sports radio WPHY-FM’s transition to sports was gradual, unlike many so-called format flips that happen instantaneously. The station began adding sports programming in the mid-1980's. More & more sports hosts were brought on to replace the music hosts that left. WPHY-FM continued playing music on Saturday mornings for a short time before the transition to all-sports (save for an overnight talk show) was complete in 1989 Notable dates in WPHY-FM's history *'October 8th, 2005': The date of the 1st Philadelphia Phantoms game to be broadcast on radio (on WPHY-FM) *'September 16th, 2005': WPHY-FM announces a deal with the Philadelphia Phantoms to broadcast games *'July 27th, 2005': WPHY-FM signs a long-term agreement with the Philadelphia 76ers to retain broadcasting rights *'June 21st, 2005': WPHY-FM signs a long-term contract with the Philadelphia Phillies to keep the Phillies on 97.5 WPHY-FM *'August 14th, 2004': WPHY-FM begins broadcasting from it's new Bala Cynwyd location *'August 14th, 1998': WPHY-FM signs a 5-year deal with the Philadelphia Flyers for broadcasting rights through the 2003 season (the station would later sign a 10-year contract in 2003) *'November of 1988': WPHY-FM becomes all-sports except for the morning drive *'September of 1988': WPHY-FM starts broadcasting sports talk *'June 2nd, 1934': WPHY-FM makes it's 1st broadcast *'June 1st, 1934': WPHY-FM is created Specialty Programming *Philadelphia Eagles games (during football season) *Philadelphia Flyers games (during hockey season) *Philadelphia 76ers games (during basketball season) *Philadelphia Phillies games (during baseball season) Frequent broadcast locations *AT&T Pavilion @ the Wachovia Center (Philadelphia Eagles pre-games) *Lincoln Financial Field *Slack's Hoagie Shack *Wachovia Center *Citizens Bank Park (Philadelphia Phillies pre-games) *Steven Singer Jewelers (for WPHY-FM's Morning Show) External links